What is Flamingo Land Missing?
April 21, 2008 – 11:38 am
Posted by lee
This is the first of a series of articles where I look at what certain theme parks desperately need for them to improve. We start with what I see as being my local park, Flamingo Land.
Those readers who know the park quite well will know that over the last 5 or 6 years things have dramatically changed at Flamingo Land. The fairground image has been transformed into one of a fully fledged theme park, with new permanent rides and just as much money spent on theming. The park has also often been talked about as being the fastest growing park in the whole of the UK.
So after all these changes, where do the park go next? The problem is, although the park is unrecognizable from where it was 10 years ago, they haven’t really moved forward at all. Flamingo Land was once the coaster capital of the UK, with a total of 7 coasters. That total now stands at 3 if you don’t count the kiddy coasters. The newest one’s, Velocity and Kumali aren’t anything special compared to the rides they replaced either in the shape of The Bullet and Magnum Force.
It is these reasons why I feel the park need to look at adding a couple of coasters in the next few years in order to push on and compete with the big boys of Alton and Thorpe. These new coasters don’t have to be world first’s, they don’t even have to be unique. They just need to be fun!
What the park really lack is just a normal sit down coaster, and in my opinion this should be solved with the addition of a woodie. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, woodie means wooden roller coaster. A woodie would fit in perfectly at Flamingo Land and would give that much needed spark. I also think it would improve attendance figures massively.
The second coaster I feel the park should go for is a really fun family ride to suit all tastes. A maure sohne spinning coaster similar to Alton’s Spinball Whizzer or Chessington’s Dragon’s Fury would be perfect, or even something along the lines of Cobra at Paultons Park.
With the addition of these two new coasters, Flamingo Land would once again become a park that everyone would want to visit. Do you agree? What else do you think Flamingo Land really need for them to compete with the best?
